Students at Trinity College Dublin have criticised what they say is the university's "inaction" in upholding Irish language rights.
The Trinity College Students' Union has hung a banner across scaffolding surrounding the college’s landmark Campanile tower asking "Cá bhfuil an Ghaeilge?".
In a statement, the students’ union said it wanted to send a message that access to Gaeilge must be a top priority for the university.
The SU has also written to Trinity College’s provost about the issue.
It says Trinity College is not complying with actions required of public bodies, including that all signage be in Irish, that all stationary include a version of the college’s logo where the two languages are equal, that all oral announcements be in Irish, that 20% of Trinity College’s public advertisements be in Irish and that 5% of advertisement spending will be spent on Irish language media.
The student union said the deadline for many of these actions was 2013.
"AMLCT/TCDSU has asked college on a multitude of occasions to provide more funding to the Irish Language Office of college, which despite its best efforts, is understaffed and under-resourced with only one full-time employee working in a corner of the secretary’s office," the student union said.
"The equivalent office in UCD is a full office with four full-time employees to ensure the fulfilment of the legislation while providing a platform for the language to grow within the university," it added.
It said students at the college recently voted in favour of equal status for the Irish language in student life and a full-time student union officer for its promotion "in an unprecedented 90% referendum win".
"This isn’t just about signage, it's about the entire legitimacy of the language," Pádraig Mac Brádaigh, who is Irish Language Officer with the SU, told RTÉ News.
He said: "The fact is that the Irish language is treated as an afterthought in higher level education.
"It’s the language that I live as much of my life as I can through, but there is a hostility across public bodies including Trinity.
"They will say 'oh we have to speak Irish, but they are empty words’."
The student union said it is now demanding that Trinity College take immediate action.
Trinity College told RTÉ News that it "thanks and commends the Students' Union for its advocacy for the Irish language".
"This is already the subject of ongoing engagement," it said.
